1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a functional alcohol releasing substance which gradually releases a functional alcohol and to a composition such as of a detergent or softening agent, which contains the functional alcohol releasing substance.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a fragrance, a desired aroma is created by blending a large number of aromatic components so-called top note, middle note and base note having different volatility. During the use of the fragrance, components having higher volatility vaporize in priority and, as a result, the aroma of the fragrance changes with the lapse of time, thus posing a problem in that the aroma cannot be maintained constantly for a prolonged period of time. A gel-like aromatic composition in which a fragrance is included in microcapsules and dispersed in a gel base material is known as a means for solving such a problem (JP-A-63-260567; the term xe2x80x9cJP-Axe2x80x9d as used herein means an xe2x80x9cunexamined published Japanese patent applicationxe2x80x9d). Though this method is effective in gel-like preparations, the desired effect cannot be obtained in the case of liquid preparations having low viscosity due to generation of floating and precipitation of microcapsules.
In addition to the above, a precursor of fragrance raw material in which a sugar and an amino acid are added to a fragrance raw material and a technique for gradually releasing the fragrance raw material by allowing an enzyme to act upon the precursor have been disclosed (JP-A-4-170961) . This method, however, has problems in that its effect in the actual use system varies depending on the presence or absence of the hydrolyzing enzyme and, when the precursor and hydrolyzing enzyme are simultaneously blended in a product system, hydrolysis progresses in the product. It also poses the same problems in volatile antibacterial and antifungal agents, so that it is difficult to maintain their effects. In addition, even a nonvolatile substance, e.g. in the case of a water-soluble substance, cannot maintain its effect due to its washing with water.
On the other hand, WO 96/38528 discloses a betaine ester quaternary ammonium salt derivative which can gradually release a fragrance raw material alcohol. However, this betaine ester quaternary ammonium salt is apt to cause side reactions at the time of synthesis and has a considerably high hydrolyzing rate even in a neutral to weakly acidic aqueous solution, so that it has a disadvantage of poor blending stability.
An object of the invention is to provide a functional substance releasing compound which can be stably blended independent of the form and use of preparations and can gradually release a functional substance constantly for a prolonged period of time in an actual use system.
The invention is a substance which is a betaine ester of a functional alcohol, in which it has an amido bond in its molecule and releases the functional alcohol, and a composition containing the same.
The term betaine ester as used herein means a structure in which a free acid as the hydration product of betaine and an alcohol are esterificated.